in august 1862, during rehearsals for his new opera béatrice et bénédict, hector berlioz was in severe intestinal pain – a chronic condition he claimed actually improved his conducting because the discomfort forced him to be “emotionally detached” and “less excitable.” last night on the schnitzer podium, the intestines of guest conductor eugene tzigane were clearly in fine working order. leading the oregon symphony in the very same music uncle hector composed 150 years ago, maestro tzigane’s wildly acrobatic gestures perfectly matched the exuberance of an overture that immediately takes off in a flurry of fiddles and ends all too quickly with a battalion of brightly bombastic brass. [um, wowee!] a special beavertail salute goes out to zach on piccolo, whose performance on this pint-sized instrument proved (once again) that the most charming and sparkling gifts often arrive in the smallest of packages. to the whole band: bravo!